Historical video. Educational use only. On January 6 1979, Norodom Sihanouk arrived in Beijing: evacuated from Phnom Penh as Vietnamese forces were sweeping through Cambodia - overthrowing the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot. On January 8th at th Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sihanouk staged a six-hour long news conference, one of the most remarkable events in Chinese=Cambodian diplomatic history. It was the late King's most baffling, engaging, and extraordinary performances. This is an excerpt from the news conference as reported by Jim Laurie and aired on ABC News.
BELOW FROM WIRE SERVICES ACCOUNT JAN 12 1979
ALL SPELLINGS AND ACCOUNT AS THEY WERE WRITTEN IN 1979.
At a six-hour news conference January 8, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia's former head of state, made wide-ranging remarks on the Cambodian-Vietnamese situation and the policies of the Pol Pot government.
Sihanouk spoke publicly for the first time since his house arrest on his return to Pnompenh from Peking in 1975 after the communist Khmer Rouge had seized power that year. Sihanouk had gone into exile in China after he had been deposed in March 1970 and replaced by the pro-U.S. government of General Lon Nol. [See 1976 Cambodia: New Government Formed]
Sihanouk said the Cambodian authorities had released him from house detention January 5 to permit him to travel to New York for the Security Council meeting.
The prince charged that Vietnam was a mere "Soviet satellite" that wanted to transform Cambodia into its "colony."
He thanked the U.S. for condemning the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, saying that Cambodia was willing to "forget" the American military role in Cambodia in the early 1970s and "be good friends." He urged the U.S. and the U.N. to help Cambodia repel the Vietnamese invaders. He suggested that the U.N. use military force to accomplish this.
Sihanouk dealt at great length with the nature of the Pol Pot government. He said he had heard of widespread reports from foreign sources of atrocities in Cambodia. "But I haven't seen the killings; naturally, I could not see them. I was kept in total darkness. I hope the reports are not true."
Sihanouk did confirm accounts of the government's repressive measures, including forced movement of people, the separation of families, the abolition of vital services and the loss of religious freedom. "I don't know why they chose to impose such a terrible policy on the people, but they told me it was genuine communism," Sihanouk said.
Sihanouk said he had lost contact with two of his daughters and their children when they were sent off to a rural cooperative in 1975 after the Khmer Rouge victory. He said he didn't know "whether they are alive or dead."
Sihanouk had arrived in Peking January 6, accompanied by his wife and Penn Nouth, his former premier in exile. He was greeted at the airport by Deputy Premier Teng Hsiao-ping.
U.S., China Condemn Vietnam
The U.S. and China assailed Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia in statements January 7 and 8.
A State Department spokesman January 7 said, "Our priority is to bring a local conflict involving Vietnam and Cambodia to a speedy resolution to prevent it from becoming a wider conflict," possibly involving the Soviet Union and China, both of which supported the rival forces. The spokesman urged Vietnam and Cambodia to exercise "restraint" and urged them "to work for the withdrawal of foreign forces" from Cambodia.
24 янв 2014
